A blog by a British Muslim girl

Suran An-Nahl

Today, I didn’t wake up for suhoor (this is the time before the predawn pray Fajr, where Muslims wake up to eat and drink before the fast begins-currently around 3am) and I paid for it. It ended up being a 23 hour fast, which is not advisable. My husband does this every day and just has water, I’m not sure how he does it but I wouldn’t recommend it. So tonight I will make sure this does not happen again. Every Ramadan, there is always at least one night where I don’t manage to wake up.

Anyhow, as a treat, I had home made chicken burgers, chips and coleslaw for Iftar – KFC style!

I managed to squeeze in some Quran yesterday thankfully. Currently I’m reading Surah An-Nahl (The Bee) and one of the things I wanted to share was verses 20-21 where Allah (swt) says: ‘And those they invoke other than Allah create nothing, and they [themselves] are created. They are, [in fact], dead, not alive, and they do not perceive when they will be resurrected.’ This refers not only to idol worship but also to people who pray to graves of pious people (like saints). In the sub-continent it is a common practice in some parts to visit graves and pray to the deceased person or ask them to pray for them as they are considered closer to Allah (swt). It’s pretty clear in the Quran that we shouldn’t do this, so why this is so prevalent in many cultures amazes me! Allah (swt) has asked us to pray to him directly so why go via dead people?